EU: Privacy Shield on hold, model clauses under attack

Data Protection, Privacy and Security Alert

In the latest (although not unexpected) blow to the Privacy Shield, the European Parliament has passed a resolution stating that the European Commission should renegotiate the Privacy Shield to seek improvements beyond the agreement reached between US and EU negotiators at the end of February.

With the Privacy Shield on hold, EU Model Clauses are the principal legal means under which personal data transfers from Europe to the US are occurring. However, these too are under attack by privacy advocates. The Irish Data Protection Authority has announced it intends to seek declaratory relief in the Irish High Court and a referral to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to determine the legal status of data transfers under standard contractual clauses.

At issue is what European privacy authorities characterize as continuing "mass surveillance" allegedly being conducted by the US government – the same theory under which the Safe Harbor arrangement was struck down.

These developments leave uncertainty in their wake over the most commonly used mechanisms for personal data transfers to the US. Find out more.

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DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, positioning us to help clients with their legal needs around the world.

DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, positioning us to help clients with their legal needs around the world.

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